Art of Supply

'Tis the season… for making supply chain predictions. Given how volatile 2025 was, anyone willing to share their opinions about the coming year deserves an award for courage.  In this episode of Art of Supply, the last of 2025, Kelly Barner shares her curated list of picks for the most compelling 2026 supply chain predictions, not ranked in any particular order, and with no guarantees for how likely they are to come true. These predictions suggest that: Localization, automation, and resilience will keep colliding with reality, not hype Decision-making will stay fast, data will stay late, and companies will learn to live with the gap Rising costs and tighter oversight (from freight to cyber risk to returns) will force uncomfortable tradeoffs Government influence on supply chains isn't fading, it's expanding in new and unexpected ways Links: Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement  

GE Appliances has been making news for years for the success of their reshoring program. It is a great story: a well-known consumer brand that is bringing production home, both to their own benefit and also to the benefit of customers and employees. But even while GE Appliances has continued to make investments and earn positive headlines for continuing their commitment to reshoring efforts and partnering with suppliers, one of their competitors isn't so sure. Whirlpool recently alleged that GE Appliances, along with two other competitors, was evading tariffs by artificially lowering the declared value of the goods they import – without passing those 'savings' along to customers. But does the data show evidence of misdeeds? In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers the balance of GE Appliances's good headlines and recent allegations against them: Background on GE Appliances's efforts to reshore production and the investments that has required The additional ways they are investing in domestic supplier partnerships, through collaboration and consultation And the recent investigation into potential tariff fraud… as alleged by Whirlpool… and what might explain the discrepancies Links: Advancements & Adjustments in the GE Appliances Supply Chain Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement  

UPS is currently stuck between dropping parcel rates, rising union leverage, and stiff competition from their peers. Unlike their peers, UPS is unionized (part of the Teamsters), adding additional complexity and bottom-line pressure. Not one to give up after 120 years in business, UPS has been looking for creative ways to make ends meet without disappointing the public. They created a massive buyout opportunity for drivers and have been working with gig drivers to handle spikes in seasonal volume without paying expensive overtime. Both strategies are saving them money, but running afoul of the Teamsters in the process. In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner looks at UPS's challenges and the creative options they are trying in response: Leveraging gig drivers while warning against the danger of a loosely-managed final mile Introducing automation where they can, shutting warehouses where they can't Working to maintain a premium delivery service in a world dominated by low-cost eCommerce volume Links: Negotiating the Big One: UPS and the Teamsters Labor Union Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement  

Commercial Driver's Licenses have been in the news a lot lately, and not for good reasons. A number of fatal accidents have been caused by questionably licensed drivers. These high profile incidents have caused a number of states and the Federal government to start digging into who is getting these licenses and how. Much of the current situation dates back to a regulatory change made in 2022 that allowed CDL training schools to 'self certify' that they are turning out qualified drivers. The idea was to make it easier to get more drivers on the road in response to a reported driver shortage, but we've gotten less safe roads instead. According to reporting by FreightWaves, there are approximately 100,000 truck crashes annually resulting in roughly 5,000 fatalities - a 40% increase over the last decade.  In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner digs past the recent headlines about CDL administration: Looking into the 2022 regulatory change, including the minimum federal requirements for safe commercial drivers and the system supposedly put in place to ensure training schools follow them The details behind the debate over English language proficiency and the eligibility status of non-domiciled drivers And the question that underpins it all: Is there a driver shortage?  Links: Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

On June 18, 2023, the OceanGate TITAN, a submersible on its way to the Titanic wreck site, imploded, killing all five passengers, including OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush.  There were a number of factors leading to this tragic event, including a horrible disregard of basic safety measures, a deliberate effort to work outside of regulatory and inspection protocols, and a toxic company culture.  While many of these issues were internal, OceanGate did not make the TITAN or its predecessors in-house. This means that they had suppliers, and those companies had a front row seat to what was unfolding. In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers the OceanGate operation from a supply chain point of view: OceanGate's evolutionary journey – first to buy and retrofit their submersibles and then to build them The different suppliers that played a role in manufacturing the TITAN, and signs that the company was looking for alternatives The challenge presented by innovation that seems to defy convention. When is an idea truly groundbreaking, and when is it just reckless? Links: Marine Board's Report Into the Implosion of the Submersible TITAN in the North Atlantic Ocean Near the Wreck Site of the RMS TITANIC Resulting in the Loss of Five Lives on June 18, 2023 Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement